Inside The Game

May 24, 2006|MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM Staff Writer

THUMBS UP

Gary Payton

Considering Payton's love for trash talk, perhaps he grew tired of hearing about how the Pistons point guards soundly outplayed him in the 2004 Finals when Payton was with the Lakers. Now the talk will be about how Payton, at 35, sliced through the Pistons for 14 points in the Heat's Game 1 victory. Without Payton's production, the Heat might have been in trouble considering Dwyane Wade's foul problems. Payton bailed out the Heat by scoring every which way in his 35 minutes. He accelerated along the baseline for layups, scored on runners, made 2 of 3 3-pointers and generally got what he wanted against the Pistons.

THUMBS DOWN

Detroit's desire

Offered a chance to quiet the chatter about their fading fortunes, the Pistons instead added more evidence they just aren't the same. They fell behind early, couldn't score late and saw another layer of their invincibility peel away. Statistically speaking, a lot of things couldn't have gone much better for Detroit. Heat center Shaquille O'Neal scored just 14 points. Wade played just 27 minutes because of foul trouble. Starting forward Udonis Haslem failed to score. The Pistons had just six turnovers and outscored the Heat 52-38 in the paint. Yet the defending Eastern Conference champions lost on their floor while showing little of the edge that has put them in the conference finals for four consecutive years.

WEIRD STAT

The Pistons had 82 field-goal attempts to 64 for the Heat.

X's and O's

The aim for the Heat was to harass Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace. There were few gimmicks, just a lot of hustle by Haslem, who fought to stay in front of Wallace and sprinted to get back on 3-pointers. Wallace was limited to seven points and missed 7 of 10 shots. He also failed to get to the free-throw line, a sign that Haslem was physical without crossing the line. "They made a very conscious effort to not let him get going," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said.

ON THE DEFENSIVE

It looked like the Pistons decided Haslem wouldn't have a hot hand in this series. The Heat forward got good looks as the Pistons focused their efforts everywhere. Haslem's signature midrange jumper was available most of the night, but Detroit never had to adjust because Haslem couldn't get going. Not only did he miss his first six shots, only a couple of those were even close. That wasn't expected after Haslem made 20 of 31 shots against the Nets in the last round. If Haslem can make shots, the Pistons will have yet another headache.

ODD MOMENT

When Tayshaun Prince was called for a foul in the second quarter, teammate Richard Hamilton, in making a point to the officials, flapped his arms up and down. Without hearing what Hamilton said, it looked a bit comical.

BY THE NUMBERS

75

Heat's shooting percentage in the first quarter.

144

Consecutive sellouts for the Pistons, including playoffs.

46-45

Heat's record in the postseason, the first time it's been better than .500.